Robin Heinen

But there is a six-plumed bird of paradise, isn't there?

What could possibly go wrong...?

I was hoping you would have the ultimate solution here, Chris.

What I struggle with, is that many of the current ways to support writers are cumbersome, or require a credit card. Perhaps I am the weird one in that I do not have Google Pay, Apple whatever, or Cash App, and no credit card...? I do have PayPal, but that is often not among the options.

A few things to tag on here:
- If you want to support authors, there are 'free' ways
- Subscribe to authors you like.
- If you like something you read, share it.
- Tell authors you liked their work.
'Payment' can be an economic OR a social exchange. Both are acceptable :).

A few very good points in the post below. Do you hate paywalls? Don't we all? However, it is good to keep in mind where these things come from. They mostly exist because we have created a world that makes it very hard for most artists and writers to make a realistic living.

I like the idea, but I doubt that most people are living like this. I am lucky to see three trees from my home and my workplace; thirty percent canopy in my neighborhood, I wish! Three hundred meters would work, although quality/accessibility of many spaces is debatable.

Good goals nonetheless!

Illustration of yellow-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis platurus)

Some illustrations for the last finished project: the atlas of reptiles of Japan.
Commissioned by Chimaira.
#Sciart
👇yellow-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis platurus) (1/5)

I think I can do the writing, but it'll take me a lot of effort to get to the actual publishing. I'm an excellent writer of half-finished books. I've done a few. I often lose interest in an idea, which to me signals that the idea isn't nice enough to be turned into a book.

Oh man, this hits hard. I'm always in that Imposter Gorge that is just before the peak of Insecurity Mountain. One day I'll finish and somehow publish my book. It's halfway there...

Descriptions of Plant Viruses have been a long-time component of Annals. Having graduated on insects as vectors of potyviruses, virology has a special place in my heart, and I'm glad to see this aspect feature in our journal regularly!

Very nice to see attention for disabilities. Thanks to TREE for highlighting that disabled folks can be excellent scientists and thinkers!

Particularly, as a plant-insect entomologist, I can't help but think that so much of the small life still experiences that direct light. But shielding the upward beams is certainly a great thing!

This is true. Lighting design has seen some optimization. However, most of it was (I think) aimed at dark sky preservation. Not so much for biodiversity conservation. Great steps have been made, but much more would be possible. I think it's quite important that diff stakeholders get together for it.

And it's totally doable.

I'd say that the implementation of cool white LEDs is simply not an evidence based decision. We can modify LEDs to be any color we want. It makes no sense to have them this bright and this white. Low intensity, warmer color, and shielded light only where needed, would be my choice.

A typical recommendation is to reduce light redundancy. No light where and when needed.

I would be careful in stating that LEDs have reduced light pollution. Light pollution is ever increasing. Many LEDs are much more intense than they need be (but often shielded downward, yes).

But, this really also depends on the organisms under investigation. There's so many differences in light perception, depending on the organisms you look at. There's plenty that seem to benefit from green or red lights, but there seems to not be one type that is good for all.

We'll, there's different types of white. And typically we distinguish between warm and cool white LEDs. I would certainly say that cool white LEDs (which have higher peaks in the blue range, compared to the orange-red part) tend to have more detrimental impacts, BUT (!)

There are literally hundreds and hundreds of studies. If you search for "Artificial light at night" AND "Biodiversity" on Google Scholar, you'll have reading material for the next few weeks.

Do you realize that to many people you are 'the big'? And I mean that in the most positive way.

You can't satisfy them all... whichever platform you choose. I think that's also a sign of the thing I said above.

Anyway. I missed 'the why,' but hope you'll keep writing somewhere!

I've bought several books this way. But clearly only from people I followed because they were interesting to follow, and wanted to be here. If you don't want to be on a platform, you shouldn't, I think... Readers will find you if you offer what they're looking for, wherever you may be.

The C21st equivalent of those loooong, pointy-toed shoes of the fourteenth century: you look like a twit, keep falling over and no-one - but no-one - in the future will believe you actually wore those things!

Chronically Ill? In Kennedy’s View, It Might Be Your Own Fault

Sentiments like these are eugenics and should have no place at government health agencies, whose mission is to protect the health of all people regardless of anyone’s circumstances.

The same playbook is being used by German media. I can't believe we have to say this. These children are not getting even enough water to transit these diseases and, btw, are not allowed evacuation either. Fucking evil to be saying this. Israel has not kept the siege in secret, so the media knows.

This clip was the look on the faces of these kids. 😳

Weird shiny stones. Stickers of glitter animals. Candy. I couldn't believe this strange Pirate Captain buried all of that in our backyard (and used my wife's bike lock to close the treasure chest!) 🤣

That's the best thing I could read today! That's lovely 😊

Both of my kids had their birthdays within the past two weeks. This afternoon, we organized a birthday party treasure hunt with a bunch of 4-6 year olds. This is the toughest thing I've ever done. The mental chatter on 'will they like it' is draining.

(I think they did)

I've never seen one of these, as a European. They look 'don't mess with me' but in a neat way. 🤣